Webinar: Opportunities and challenges in repurposing retail parks

Despite many retail parks enjoying a temporary revival as shoppers feel safer popping to a retail park by car during COVID-19, they face structural vacancy due to long-term changes in consumer behaviour.


Retail parks have also faced the highest amount of tenant defaults of any property sector, leading to long-term structural vacancy across a variety of retail parks. The big box structures most easily lend themselves for conversion to leisure and Food & Beverage use, but this is replacing one consumption-led use with another sticking plaster. Struggling retail parks might need to develop unused space by adding in residential, logistics or other uses, get repositioned as a community hub, or simply face at least partial demolition.
 
The second repurposing retail webinar will focus on the specific issues and opportunities around repurposing redundant retail park space. Repurposing requires a well-thought out process with unique solutions for each site. Various factors limit the repurposing options, amongst others the surrounding area, planning, land values, minimum required rates of return and funding gaps.
 
Chair

Cléo Folkes, Founder, Property Overview Ltd - Cléo Folkes, a Dutch national, started Property Overview in late 2017, working in consultancy  as well as providing property-related training courses. Cleo has over 25 years’ worth of property experience working for a variety of institutions such as chartered surveyors, independent institutions like IPD (now MSCI), a private equity firm and a Middle Eastern Sovereign Wealth Fund. Cleo has worked in a rich variety of roles, mainly focusing on research & strategy, but has also worked in capital raising, change management and business development. Current and previous market focus has been across asset classes and on a Global level as well as on a Pan-European, German, Dutch and UK-only basis.  She speaks fluent English, Dutch and German. Cléo holds an MA in Economic Geography and is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA).  Cleo previously spent nine years as Research Manager at St Martins, the global property-investment arm of the Kuwait Investment Authority, where she was responsible for global research and strategy, which encompassed overseeing house-views, quarterly reporting, producing the annual report, the investment process & associated risk including setting hurdle rates, performance calculation and analysis and bespoke in-depth research projects.
 
Speakers

Jonathan Bayfield, Head of UK Real Estate Research, AVIVA Investors - Jonathan has a significant role in influencing individual funds’ investment strategies as well as leading the house location strategy. He is also part of the senior team that challenge and give guidance on investment and portfolio construction decision-making, working across equity, debt and long income mandates. As part of his role, he also manage the thought leadership and insight program for the wider Real Assets Research team. Prior to joining Aviva Investors, Jonathan worked in JLL’s EMEA Research and Consulting team. Jonathan obtained an MSc in Real Estate from Reading University's College of Estate Management and a BSc in Geography from University College London. He also holds the Investment Management Certificate (IMC) and is a committee member for AREF’s Research and Information Committee and an active member of ULI, SPR, BPF and CREFC.


Olivia Paine, Architect, Asset and Workplace Sector, HLM Architects - Olivia is a recently qualified architect and leading figure within the asset and workplace sector at HLM Architects. Working predominantly with Local Councils she is focussed on delivering innovative solutions which make asset portfolios deliver value for community and client. She is passionate about the re-generation of our towns to support the emerging localism agenda and most recently has co-founded the #bettertowns roadmap; an innovative initiative launched to lead the way towards better, healthier and more successful towns. The decision to create #bettertowns was driven by a desire to champion a logical, evidence-led approach focussing on truly understanding a locality and its challenges before offering deliverable, achievable solutions through collaboration with the multi-disciplinary consortium. Olivia has worked with Local Authorities across the country and strives to connect architecture to its wider influences ensuring that design plays its part in enhancing the network of commercial, environmental, social and economic factors which contribute to and build a great place. 

Panellists

David Ebbrell, Chief Executive Officer, M7 Real Estate - David Ebbrell is the Chief Executive Officer for M7 Real Estate Limited, one of the leading specialists in pan-European regional real estate.  David sits on M7 Real Estate’s investment committees.  Most recently, David was the Chief Investment Officer for M7 overseeing the company’s acquisitions.  David has a strong track record in strategy deal origination and execution, including leading the acquisition programs for M7’s own Funds and its Co-investing JV’s.  Since co-founding M7 Real Estate in April 2009, he has been involved in transactions with a value in excess of €12bn of real estate across Europe.  Prior to M7, David was a Director at Halverton REIM LLP (subsequently GPT Halverton), a European real estate fund management business where he focused on European real estate transactions and prior to this worked at iOG (now Cromwell Group and Healey and Baker (now Cushman and Wakefield). David has over 20 years of real estate experience and is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

When
1/20/2021 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
GMT Standard Time
Where
Online

Sign In